Investigating Health Problems and Their Associated Risk Factors among Employees of Iranian Petrochemical Industries with Emphasis on Shift Working

The main purposes of this study were to investigate health problems and their associated risk factors among employees of Iranian petrochemical industries. This cross-sectional study was carried out at 21 Iranian petrochemical companies. Study population consisted of 3580 workers (including 44.2% shift workers and 55.8% day workers). Data on personal details, shift schedule and health problems were collected by anonymous questionnaire. Statistical analyses and regression modeling were performed using SPSS, version 22.0. Means of age in shift workers and day workers were 33.15±7.73 and 34.56±8.19 years, respectively. The results showed that prevalence of health problems among shift workers was higher than that of day workers. Binary logistic regression indicated that in addition to shift working, age, long working hours, type of employment, level of education and job title were also associated with health outcomes. Although, working in shift system was the main risk factor associated with the health problems, but demographic and work variables had association.